Why is the Sky Blue?
by CigarsAllAround
Summary: Enormous AU. Logan is a man of all trades and Storm is the woman he likes to bed. But when she takes in two hurt and confused young mutants, he's dragged into a world of love, laughter, hurt and comfort. Set in the year 1900.


**Why is the Sky Blue? **

**Chapter One**

* * *

The lonely hallway was longer than eleven pythons and almost as deadly as Marie planted her socked feet on the antique floorboards, her toes wriggling against the grooves in the knotted wood. She was surrounded by shadows and darkness that scared her, but she slowly crouched to her knobbly knees, her ears transfixed by the noises carrying through the air. With a worried nibble to her bottom lip, she sucked in a shallow breath as she drifted forward until her eyes were level with the crack in the bedroom door. In the small candlelit space past her button nose she could see the outline of Ms Munroe sitting on a chair beside a desk, her back to the door. The strict woman raised a chunky wooden spoon high above her head and brought it whizzing down until it landed with a _thump_ on a bare behind.

Marie's spellbound frame jumped each time the implement thudded against its target, the spoon leaving a beefy glow and a ripple of pain as a furious Storm scolded the lanky boy lying over her knee. "Scott Summers," she said. "If I ever hear you taking the Lord's name in vain again you won't sit for a month of Sundays! And, you _will_ start behaving in class, young man." A sharp volley of stinging swats clapped against his pristine thighs, drawling howls from the boy. "You know why you're here and what's expected of you, and I will not have you teaching Marie your bad habits!"

The southern girl's eyes drank in the sight of the boy swimming over Storm's lap, his long legs reminding her of a frog attempting to escape from an angry cat. She felt sorry for poor Scott who was almost like a brother to her, and as the spanking came to an end, she began to shuffle backwards on her bottom. It was then; her body collided with a pair of legs that knocked a gasp from her trembling lips.

"Shh," Wolverine demanded gruffly, his toned lumberjack muscles fully alert to the danger she was in. His cool eyes dropped to the girl at his feet and he regarded her for a split second before his scrutinising gaze shot to the door. As his ears tracked Storm's movements, he held out his hand to Marie and nodded, silently ordering her to take his offer of help.

A pouting Marie placed her delicate hand in Logan's and froze when she heard a voice call from the dimly lit bedroom. He helped her to her feet and she sunk against her protector's flannel clad chest, quickly hiding her face from view as she held her breath.

"Logan, is that you?" Storm asked, setting the spoon down on the cluttered desk and beginning to draw Scott's underwear up towards his well-spanked behind.

"Yeah 'Ro," the Canadian man rumbled, wrapping his muscular arms around the girl cowering against him. "It's just me." He cleared his gravelly throat. "Finished with the grounds for the night and I'm off in search of some shuteye."

The elegant looking woman seemed serene now the child in her care had been punished thoroughly. She rubbed circles on Scott's back, attempting to console him. "I think we could all do with some rest," she sighed, patting the boy's rump. "Up you get, Scott. It's time for bed now, and I expect you to say your prayers, too." As the dazed and sniffling Scott rose to his feet, the white-haired woman continued to talk to the feral man who wasn't in her line of sight. "I'm going to check on Marie and then I'll make myself a warm drink."

He sighed heavily. "No, I'll check on her, darlin'. Leave it to me," he answered when he smelt the girl's fear. "You've done enough today, huh. Go get some rest after you've finished dealing with the hotshot in there."

The woman of the house relented, watching Scott say his prayers. "Okay Logan, but if you find her wandering around don't you dare let her off again." She stood and moved the chair closer to the desk, desperately wanting to clean the untidy room as she eyes roamed her surroundings. "I want both Scott and Marie to follow the rules I set for them."

"Yeah, I hear you," Logan snorted, steering the kid away from the room. "I'd bet my last dollar she's in bed right now though, 'Ro. She listens good when you tell her something." With an amused smirk on his face, he left Storm to it and didn't say another word until they reached Marie's room.

"Are ya goin' to tell her?" the girl finally asked, glancing up at him with a tearful pout and a wobbling bottom lip. "Ah don't want to get spanked lots."

"I bet you don't," he muttered, plucking her off the floor and shouldering the door open. Venturing inside the room, the menacing mutant dropped her onto the single bed gently and ruffled her plaited hair. "But your little jaunt around the halls is our secret, kid. Storm won't know a thing, you hear?" Stooping down, he patted her knee. "Lay down now, you need your shuteye, too."

Marie curled under the sheets, her eyes glittering in the darkness. She felt better now he was here because she didn't like being alone. "Logan, Scotty was gettin' a spankin'."

"Yep," Wolverine grunted, nodding firmly. He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, his keen eyesight scanning her pale face. "And what were you doing watching, huh? Slim earned himself a tanning and I'm guessing you weren't asked along for the hell of it."

"Hell's a bad word," she said quietly, crossing her arms and giggling when Logan tapped her on the nose. "It's a really, really, _really _bad word, ya naughty man."

"That it is, kiddo," he chuckled, cracking a grin. "And don't tell the lady of the house I've been dropping the 'bad words' around you, okay? She'd be miffed and I don't want another earache, and do me another favour and stay in bed from now on. I'm not always going to be around to save your butt from trouble when it comes your way."

"Ah don't want ya leavin' meh alone, Logan," Marie whispered gently, tears gathering in her hazel eyes. She hugged his arm tightly, almost as if she was stopping him from running away from her. "And Ah'm not goin' to let ya leave and if ya do Ah'm goin' to follow ya."

Logan left his arm in her grip and tried to talk her out of hightailing it out of here. "Kid, if you try to run Storm won't be the only one after your backside with a hairbrush, understand?" He heaved a sigh and glanced around the sparsely decorated room. "I'll try to brighten up this place tomorrow and make you feel more at home, okay? We can put some new furniture in here and you can even pick the colour for the walls."

"Ah can?" she said softly, cuddling his arm as she yawned. "Ah like the colour green because it's pretty." Her eyelids became heavier the longer she thought about the space around her and she soon yawned again. "Ah don't like the dark either."

"I know you don't, kid," he muttered, tucking her hair behind her ears with his free hand. "I'll get something sorted out in here. Hey, do you know what I used to do when I was a miner?" He smiled when the sleepy girl admitted she didn't. "When I had to head into the dark I'd take some wet clay and use it to stick a candle to my helmet. Either that or a few of us would take it in turns to plant candles along the rock walls with the clay we could find."

Marie eyes were flickering closed as she murmured to him. "How long were ya a miner, Logan?" she whispered, turning on her side and cuddling his arm like it was a teddy bear. "Was it a really, really, really long time ago?"

"Yeah, it was a while back. Wasn't much older than you at the time, and I needed to make some money for food and the likes. So, I found a job at a mine and kept at it until I could afford to leave," he explained, past memories stalking his mind for a moment or two. "You best get some sleep now, kiddo. But don't you worry because I'll stay with you until you're holed up in a dream." When he didn't receive an answer he chuckled quietly to himself and untangled his arm from her loose grip. "Good to know you value my company so much you fall asleep on me in seconds flat."

He tucked the kid in and left the room on silent feet, scratching the back of his neck as he made his way to the kitchen. "Damn kid is going to be the death of me," he snorted, raising an eyebrow when he caught the scent of Storm wafting from the downstairs. "You still up, darlin'?" he questioned, entering the room.

She glanced over her shoulder with a quiet sigh, standing beside the large cast iron stove, a pan of milk being heated on the coal-black hob. "I haven't had my drink yet," she answered, lips pursed. "I couldn't leave Scott until he stopped crying."

"You feel bad about tanning him?" Logan responded, advancing on her with a furrowed brow. "Don't know why I'm asking you, because I can smell it clear as day."

"Of course I feel bad, Logan," Storm answered, her eyes crinkling in concern as she spoke softly. "I sometimes think Scott and Marie would be better off without me." She gazed at him and could easily read the disapproval on his face. "I know what you're going to say, but I can't help voicing my worries. "

"Bullshit," he growled, resting a calloused hand on her shapely hip. "You know those kids would be half-starved and sleeping in the damn gutter if it wasn't for you." He pressed a heated kiss to the side of her neck. "Credit where it's due, darlin'. You've been a rock for them."

"My stomach is turning at that thought," she confessed, placing her smooth hand on his. "I mean, the thought of them being cast aside by society because of their problems."

"Makes it all that more admirable that you're doing what you're doing, 'Ro," Logan told her gruffly, nipping at the nape of her neck with a hungry growl. "You've got a good heart and you're strict to boot. Those kids don't get away with anything, and that's the way it should be."

"I know I need to be strict," Storm replied, her heart sinking slightly as she thought about her two charges. "But Scott's so lost and he's almost sixteen now, and if doesn't start to act like a young man soon, I won't know what to do for the best. And Logan, what about little Marie? What's going to happen to her?" The weather witch stroked the large hand resting on her hip. "Charles is coming to visit tomorrow," she said heatedly, inhaling sharply when Logan's palms crept over her body and started to squeeze her bottom. "He wants to work with Marie again to see if he can help her."

Logan breathed heavily, his forehead resting against hers. "Yeah?" he answered, cupping her ass like he owned every last inch of it. "I sure hope he can, darlin'. Talking to her does nothing but tickle that kid she's taken on in her head."

"You know she can't help it," Storm replied, a deep swirl of sadness in her eyes. "After her mutation manifested she took so many different personalities into her mind she couldn't handle the power. Her psyche shattered and she used her child self as a shield against the world, I think it was a comfort to her."

"I know, 'Ro. I know that," Logan grumbled, reaching over her and dragging the burning pan of milk off the stove. His hands returned to her shapely body and he turned his thoughts over in his head. "But I'm hoping Chuck can pull his finger out for once. Hell, don't feed him any of those tea leaves until he's fixed her."

"Logan, maybe she doesn't need fixing. What if we kept her like that? It wouldn't do any harm, would it? She's safe with us here, and she's looked after and I can provide a happy home for her," the woman said, avoiding the burly man's piercing gaze. "There's nothing wrong with me thinking that way. I only want what's best for Marie."

"Darlin', she needs help. Keeping her like she is won't be doing her any good in the long run, you hear? Don't you want her to leave, sketch out a life and have kids of her own? There's a whole world out there for her to explore and keeping her cooped up isn't right. I'm hoping things are going to change tomorrow," he sighed, his fingers tugging at the back of her lacy dress. "And is this new? I can't say I like it, 'Ro. I think it'd look a damn sight better on the floor beside my bed."

The weather witch smiled despite her worries over the children. "Wolverine, if my people back in Africa could hear you now they'd be appalled," she gasped, slapping gently at his chest. "But thank you, I think. I'm sure there was a compliment in there somewhere."

Logan smirked roughly and squeezed her perfect backside again. "It's a new century, darlin'. I've got a feeling everything's going to change when it comes to men and women talking." He guided her to his bedroom, an impatient gleam in his eyes as he scooped her into his arms. "Welcome to 1900," he whispered huskily in her ear.


End file.
